Why Republicans Aren’t Rebuking T****

Tweetophobia and its cousin, primariphobia, may be keeping some Republicans from openly criticizing the human dumpster-fire they helped put in the White House, but there are other, more practical causes for the selective mutism afflicting the GOP.

As always, the first rule is to follow the money. Here are some examples:

A four-star general makes significantly more than one with only three: $179,700 vs. $164,221. H.R. McMaster is a three-star general. But a retired general can make ten times that much in the private sector. James Mattis is a retired general, and so is John Kelly.

As Transportation Secretary, Elaine Chao makes a few dollars more than her husband ($199,700 to $193,400), but that’s chump-change compared to the cash cache she brought to the marriage and what she pulls down in the private sector. Her gazillionaire father gave her (and Mitch) somewhere between $5 and $25 million in 2008 to “help” them recover from the crash, and Wells-Fargo continues to pay her at least $1 million annually.

CW says that Gary Cohn is swallowing his snot when it comes to the anti-Semitism of the neo-Nazis who support T**** because he wants to be head of the Federal Reserve. How much is the job at the Fed worth? Only $199,000 while you’re doing it, but it’s the post-employment gigs that are lucrative. Case in point: as ex-chairman, Ben Bernanke was getting $250,000 per speech – and his book deal with Norton was for at least a cool million. Fun fact: Cohn is a member of the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County.

Handing out cabinet posts and titles like M&Ms to people who can cash them in down the road for big bucks may not qualify as bribery or coercion, and it may not be new, but it sure ain’t draining the swamp